The Miscellaneous Blog: Super Deluxe Chicken Quesadillas

I love Mexican food but I've noticed that a lot of dishes - like enchiladas - you can't make nearly as well at home as they can at a restaurant. (I suspect with enchiladas it's because they use very, very thin tortillas which are not available at the grocery store.) One thing that you can make just as good at home as they do in restaurants though, is quesadillas. They are so, so easy (and fun!) to make. Everyone in our house loves these and they actually have performed a miracle. They got Gigi to eat spinach AND say that she liked it.

Tools required: kitchen tongs, pizza cutter, 2 large skillets

Super Deluxe Chicken Quesadillas (with pico de gallo)

1 lb chicken breasts

salt

pepper

garlic powder

chili powder

ground cumin

Worcestershire sauce

Liquid Smoke

6 strips bacon

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 small container mushrooms, chopped

1 bag spinach

4 cups Monterrey Jack cheese

12 flour tortillas

4 roma tomatoes

4 tbsp cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and cumin to taste. Just put enough of each spice on the chicken to have a thin coating on the chicken. Rub the spices in to make sure they are coating the chicken well.

Place the chicken in a plastic bag and pour Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke in it. Just enough to coat all of the chicken breasts. If you have time to marinate, place the bag in the refrigerator. You do not have to marinate the chicken though if you're in a rush. Cook the chicken any way you like. Pan fry, bake in the oven or grill. I always prefer chicken on the grill and luckily I have a husband who is a great griller!

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Lay bacon strips in the skillet. Whenever I lay bacon strips in a cold skillet it reminds me of my grandmother (on my mom's side), who would lay bacon strips in a skillet before she went to bed so she didn't have to do it in the morning. My dad got a real kick out this.

While your bacon is frying, chop your two tomatoes.

Add in 1/3 cup of the onions that you chopped earlier. Also add the cilantro.

When your bacon is done, pour out all but about 2 tbsp of the grease. If you don't have a metal coffee can to pour your grease into (do they even sell metal coffee cans anymore?) then you can pour the hot grease into a glass measuring cup and put it in the freezer. Once the grease is frozen you can pop it out of the measuring cup and into the trash can. DON'T pour bacon grease down the sink (it hardens in the pipes) and especially DON'T pour it in a plastic cup. I am speaking from experience. The grease will melt the cup and you will have hot bacon grease all over your kitchen.

Like how my camera focused on my Texas Tech potholder? There wasn't time to go back and retake this action shot!

Add the rest of your onions into the hot bacon grease.

And mushrooms. Stir to coat well. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add spinach.

Use tongs (best kitchen tool ever invented!) to toss the spinach around until it wilts. ADub thought there should be a picture of me on the blog :)

This child has a sixth sense for knowing when the pantry is open. I used to let them play in it, but Gigi has gotten so tall she can reach too many shelves and it was out of control. We keep it locked with one of those zip-tie things so I guess that makes it very enticing. The minute the door is open they are both in there in two seconds.

While your spinach is wilting squeeze some lime juice (about 2 tbsp, to taste) into your tomato, onion and chopped cilantro.

She asked me to take a picture of her "all packed up." I asked her to give me her pretty smile :)

This is what she has packed up.

Once your spinach is wilted and liquid has reduced, add your crumbled bacon back to the skillet and stir to combine. Remove the skillet from heat but leave your burner on.

Place your other skillet (I used a non-stick griddle) on the already hot burner and let it get warm on medium heat. While the skillet is getting hot, chop your grilled chicken into bite-sized chunks. Eat a few bites, because you are hungry and that chicken looks so good. Nice grilling, ADub!

Prepare your quesadilla station so you have everything you need right by. Tortillas, cheese, chicken, spinach mixture in skillet and Pam (not pictured).

Once your clean skillet is hot, spray with Pam, place one tortilla down and sprinkle a generous handful of monterrey jack on the tortilla. I would use at least 1/4 cup on bottom and on top of your quesadilla. They are going to be thick, so you need the cheese to hold everything together.

Add chicken chunks.

Scoop out some of your spinach mixture. I find the tongs very helpful for this since there are so many small bits and they will help you place the mixture evenly over the quesadilla better than a spoon would.

Try to make sure your spinach is spread evenly over the quesadilla. No one wants to eat a big glob of spinach (except ADub).

Cover spinach mixture with another 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cheese and top with another tortilla. If your skillet is good and hot, you should just about be ready to flip your quesadilla. To do this, gently place your hand on the top tortilla, slide a large spatula under the bottom tortilla and flip over quickly. Even when I do this, sometimes my quesadilla ends up like this.

No problem, because you have your handy tongs! Take your spatula and use it to hold down the bottom tortilla. Using your tongs, slide the top tortilla over so it is even. Voila! Sorry I didn't get a picture--it requires two hands.

When your quesadilla is done, transfer it to a plate and let it sit for 2-3 minutes so the cheese can set. Start on your next quesadilla. This recipe makes 6 whole quesadillas. ADub and I each ate one and the kids split one.

Once it has cooled slightly, use a pizza cutter to cut into 4 pieces. Add a spoonful of pico in the middle.

Serve to hungry family!

First she picked out all of her spinach and put it on her plate (see below). Then near the end of dinner she declared "I like spinach!" and ate all of it. Truly, these quesadillas performed a miracle!